Bodo Birk heads the "Festivals and Programs" department in the Cultural Office of the City of Erlangen and is deputy head of the office. With his team, he is responsible for the Erlangen International Figure Theater Festival, the Erlangen International Comic Salon and the Erlangen Poetry Festival, among others. The International Figure Theater Festival is characterized by its cross-disciplinary approach, which includes contemporary puppetry, object theater and picture theater as well as dance, performance and the use of new media and interactive technologies. Born in 1968 in Nuremberg, Bodo Birk studied theater and media studies, German and political science in Erlangen and Vienna. He was a co-founder of the student theater festival ARENA and was responsible for press and public relations at Theater Erlangen for several years after graduation before moving to the Department of Culture. From 2014 to 2017 Bodo Birk was a member of the board of trustees of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, and since 2004 he has been a jury member of the Max und Moritz Prize.

Seta-Elizabeth Guetsoyan, M.A., studied theater studies and art history at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. She worked in different theater and cultural institutions as a dramaturg, researcher and production manager in a number of different projects (Theater der Welt, Schauspielhaus Bochum, Ruhrtriennale or also in the Capital of Culture team of the city of Herne).

From 2012 to 2018, she managed the Documentation Center of the German Forum for Figure Theater and Puppetry Art and the production of the festival FIDENA - Figurentheater der Nationen.

Since 2019, she has directed the Figurentheater-Kolleg, a continuing education institution for performing and visual arts with a focus on puppet theater, and the Rottstr5-Kunsthallen, a space for transdisciplinary art and cultural-political discourse, in Bochum.

Aufgewachsen in Holstein. Studium der Theaterwissenschaft, Germanistik und Philosophie an den Universitäten Hamburg, LMU München und FU Berlin. Nach Lehrjahren in der schwäbisch-badischen Provinz als Dramaturg und Regisseur und im Kultuamt Offenbach freies theaterpädagogisches Arbeiten in verschiedenen Institutionen. Daneben Kritiker und Publizist mit zahlreichen Veröffentlichungen zum Thema Kinder- und Jugendtheater. Redaktion: Reclams Kindertheaterführer. Leiter der Dramaturgieabteilung an der Theaterakademie Spielstatt in Ulm, in gleicher Funktion, sowie Leitung der Theaterpädagogik und Szenisches Schreiben an der Theaterakademie adk-ulm (bis 2014). Szenische Arbeiten in Ulm und Stuttgart mit Studenten, dramaturgische Mitarbeit und Inszenierungen bei freien Gruppen in Österreich und der Schweiz (Figurentheater und Schauspiel). Träger des ASSITEJ-Preises. Juror, bzw. Kurator bei „Augenblickmal“, dem nationalen Treffen für ein junges Publikum (1981 und 2011), sowie langjähriger Juror bei dem Kindermusiktheaterfestival „Traumspiele“ in NRW bis zu deren Auflösung, in der LAFT-Jury Baden-Württemberg.

Tim Sandweg studied Theater Studies and German Philology at the Free University of Berlin before joining the Puppet Theater of the City of Magdeburg as dramaturg in 2009; there he was also co-artistic director of the international puppet theater festival "blickwechsel". Since then, various play developments, stage adaptations, format developments, work as dramaturg, publications and performances in different production and work contexts. Since 2009 Tim Sandweg has been a member of the editorial board of the magazine for puppet, figure and object theater "double" and is currently a board member of the German Forum for Figure Theater and Puppetry Art. Various lecturer and jury activities. Since the beginning of the 2015/16 season, Tim Sandweg has been Artistic Director of Schaubude Berlin and the international festival Theater der Dinge.

After studying literature and history, Katja Spiess found her way into the Stuttgart cultural scene through programmatic and organizational work at various cultural festivals (including "Theater der Welt", "Natur im Kopf - Kongress zum Naturbegriff der Gegenwart"). She is a member of the FITZ! Zentrum für Figurentheater since 1993. In the first years she was responsible for press and public relations. In 1998 she took over the management of the FITZ in cooperation with Helmut Pogerth, and in 2001 she became the sole director. Katja Spiess is also the artistic director of the International Figure Theater Festival IMAGINALE and a member of the editorial board of the theater journal "double".

Birgit Walkenhorst studied theater in Mainz, Frankfurt/Main, Reading and Bologna. She has researched, taught and published in this subject. She worked for various stage publishers; as an editorial assistant, she was in charge of the INTHEGA playbill journals. She participated in the organization and communication teams of international festivals (Mousonturm, KJTZ, Staatstheater Wiesbaden). From 2011 to 2015 she was responsible for public relations and program planning at the International Theater Frankfurt. Since 2015, she has been managing director of the state association of professional independent theaters in Rheinland-Pfalz, laprofth.

Stephan Wunsch ist Puppenspieler, Figurenbildner und Regisseur. Er studierte Philosophie und Germanistik in Aachen und belegte Seminare in Figurenspiel und Figurenbau auf Hof Lebherz. 2003 gründete er die Bühne theater rosenfisch. Seitdem produziert er zahlreiche Inszenierungen für Kinder und Erwachsene; außerdem Regiearbeiten, Figurenbau und Bühnenmusik für andere Bühnen.

Neben dieser Tätigkeit ist er Teil der Redaktion von ‚Das andere Theater‘, die offizielle Zeitschrift des UNIMA-Zentrums der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V., die zwei Mal jährlich erscheint.